Armor for vehicle-tires



v. P. nAzBunGj ARMOR $08 VEHICLE TIRES.

AEPLICATIDR FILED GCT. 2l. |907 IEIIEWED NDV. 12,191?- 1,338,842 Pawn@ my 4; 1920.

VICTOR P. RATZBURG, 0F NASHUA, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

ASSIGNOR. BY MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, TO BARRELL HOLDING AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY. OF PORTLAND,

MAINE, A CORPORATION 0F MAINE.

ARMOR FOR VEHICLE-TIRES.

Application led October 21, 1907. Sera! No. 398.823.

lie it known that I, Vio'ron l. Rrrznrnu., a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Nashua, in the county of Hillsborough and State of New Hampshire, have invented an Improvement in Armor for Vehicle-Tires, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like letters on the drawings representing like parts.

This invention hicle tires which may serve ment against wear, or as a skidding, or both.

Tire armor is subjected to destructive abrasion, which soon wears' away any larts presented` continuously at the tread o` the armor. For example, in some chain arniors heretofore used those parts of the links which -impacted against the road were rapidly demolished. requiring that the armor be discarded even though other .parts ot the same links may` have remained unworn. It has been proposed to overcome this diificulty and to prolong the utility of armor by making the tread members reversible,'to

ermit one side, when worn, to be replaced y a diametrically opposite side.

It is an object of this invention to provide tire armor conveniently adjustable while on the tire to present different parts at the tread of the armor to receive wear; and thereby to avoidthe necessity of removing the armor in the manner suggested. Also, armor embodying the invention may he progressively adjustable to present successive peripheral portions ot tread members at the tread of the armor so that wear shall be distributed equally over the entire surface of the armor; and it desired the adjustment referred to may be effected automatically in the use of the armor.

It is also an object of the invention to provide tread members, which shall not only be capable of adjustment to continually present die'rent parts of the wearing surface to the road1 but to provide for a resilient action of the tread members, by reason of which the 'latter shall be adaptable to changes in formation of the tire. Thus the tread members serve to contribute to the resiliency of the general structure, as well as possessingr the characteristic of relates to armor for veas reinforce- Speccation of Letters Patent.

preventive of be described as applied Patented May 4, 1920.

Renewed November 12, 1917. Serial No. 201,660.

presenting shifting wearing surfaces. Another object Vis to provide tread members whose elasticity shall possess the advantage ot' causing the tread structure to cling snugly to thi` tire` and prevent rattling and shitting of the armor.

The character of the invention may be best understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, which show for purposes of illustration a construction embodying the features of the invention.

In the drawings:

Fi re 1 is a side elevation of a'wheel and tire associated with an illustrative form of armor;

Fig. 2, a transverse radial section of the wheel on the line 2-2 roiFi 1,

Fig. 3, an enlarged detail sliowmg' a practicable form of tread guard which may comprise a part ofthe armor shown in Fips. 1 and 2A; and,

"ig 4, an enlarged detail of a holdin but non-essentie. loyed to secure in `as illustrated in structure' of convenient form, 'which'may be em place tread Iguards suc 1 3; l eferring to Fig. 1, the invention will to a vehicle Wheel 6, having a pneumatic' transversal of the" tire 7 .is a plurality of tread mem ers 8, shown enlar ed in' Fi 3. As illustrated in Fig. 3, t e immeiate tread portion ofthe tread member 8'is supplied by a coil spring, and this construction presents many advantages by reason 'of the resiliency 'of theV sprin and its adaptability to changes in the con ormation of the tire. It is not essential, however, that the tread be supplied by a coil spring, since any practicable substitute may be employed. In the specific illustration the s ring 8 has eyes 9, 9 by which its extremities are connected to swivels 10, 10, or equivalent devices, arranged to permit the sprin 8 or its substitute to be turned or adjuste to present a new wearing surface at the tread of the armor. Any practicable number of tread members may be held in proper position on the tire by any suitable means as, for example, by having the swivels l0 connected by S-links 11, respectively, to holding members. 12, the latter extending around opposite sides of the wheel as shown in Fig. l.. and having their ends connected tire 7. Extending.

h v turnbuckles 13. The holding,r members 12 may be of any practicable forni or material. \s specifically illustrated. each hold ingr member 12 consists of a chain, having 5 hook links as shown in side elevation in Fig. l. This form of chain is particularly desirable .since it has a substantially flat side which will lie snugly against the tire or rim of thewheel.

In using the exemplary embodiment of the invention shown in the drawings the armor may be applied either beforeor after iniiatinlglr the. tire and it .ma f' be tightened conveniently `by means of the turnbuclcles 13. If springs 8 are employed as tread members and the turnbnckles 13 are turned sufficiently, the entire armor ,will be placed under tension and held snuglyin place so as toravoid the objectionable rattling experienced in` the use of armor composed c ntirely of chains or the like, When springs are used as art of the .armonlthe normal tension or elasticity thereof may serve to reduce the tendency to free movement of the'A armor on1 thetire,.it being understood, however, that it is desirable thattheuarmor shallinot be positively anchored to thewheel, but shall be .permittedto move circumferentially toca@` slightl extent; ,and the tread members v.sialltlae permtted ,te :m11 V4alcun thetread ofthe tireiat leastJte some extent. The turnb'uckles, of course maybe used to gdistend thesprings to su i, an, extent that ,struct movement .'of.- ,thev armory pn, the tire.

With the specific construction disclosed every .timeone `of the springtread members 8; strikes the ground it may be v.slightly rotated about its ,own axis, so asto present for its next impact a new wearing surface. Thus, every portion of the velitterior of the sprin maybe subjected towear'which, as regar s theenti-re spring, :willtherefore be velzygradual.' V f l arious advantages other thanthoseparticularly ointed out will Ibe ap anentlto those familiar with the art, ,aswil also ap-y pearthe fact that the exemplary construcbe variously changed and modified without i departing rom the pro er sopeof the invention; It -is to be un erstoodthat no attempt has beenmade hereinlielforeto define the Yexact scope of the "invention, that oliice being delegatedexclusively tothe subjoined claims. i i

Claims 1. An anti-skidding device for vehicle tires comprising, in combination, annular side holdin means to be disposed at opposite sides o the wheei; and individual rotatable tread members connected to the side holding means; the `vhole adapted to be supported on the tire and to be retained tion, h'ereinbefore-V described; ,in detail may f thereon independently of positive attachment.

2. An anti-skidding device for vehicle tires, comprising in combination, annular side holdingr chains to be disposed at opposite sides of a wheel, individual rotatable tread members, and swivels lconnecting said individual rotatable tread members to the side holding chains, the whole adapted to be supported on the tire and to be retained thereon independent of positive attachment.

3. An anti-skidding device for vehicle tires comprising, in combination, annular side holding chains` disposed at opposite sides of the Wheel, and coil 'springs swiveled to the side chains, the whole 'supported on the tire, and retained thereon independently of positive attachment.

4. AnI anti-skidding device for vehicle tires comprising, in combination, annular side holding members disposed on opposite sides of the'wheeL'nnd substantially cylin- ,drical individual rotatable resilient tread members connebted tothe side members, the whole supported on lthe tire and retained thereon independently of xpositive attachment L p An antIi-skiddingfdevice for vehicle tires l in combination, substantially cylindrical 'freelyrotatable resilient tread; members; 'f and means to retain them y i)ilysolil, the tread of! atilr While permitting t tireiarid itheir engagement therewith to rotate abouttherown axis, to revolve 6n ',ariti-l'slridding ,device for vehicle tires compr si in combination, tread mem berseirten ingr' ransversly of. the tire, holding means `fors'aid members at the sides of the tire,.andv connections between said means -and said members t'o permit the rotation of said members, said members constituted by a serieS'o. independently 'spreadable road .enfraging elements.

dispose on thelltread ovfa wheel, swivels havin two rotatable parts one of which is lexib y connected to said member, said parts being .adapted and" arranged lto permit said member to rotate pn yits longitudinal axis, and holding 'meansto which said swivels are connected, said .holding means being Afree from positive attachment to the tire, whereby said member isv'ipermitted to roll along v the tread surface of the tire and the whole device is permitted automatically to shift circumferentially.

i 8. The combination of a vehicle wheel; side holding members atopposite sides of thewheel: and freely rotatable resilient tread members supported in position by the side members independently of the wheel.

em to shift circumfereritially about the 9. A vehicle wheel having a tire, in combination with an anti-skidding device comprising a number of flexible cross members extending across said tire spaced at intervals around the periphery thereof, each oi' said cross members comprising a roller having a pluralit of blunt edged circumferential projections adapted to be gripped between the tire and the ground, each cross member also comprising means for allowing the roller to rotate relatively to the tire, and means for holding said cross members on the wheel while permitting them to shift cir cumferentiall about the tire, and by their engagement t erewith to rotate about their own axis, and to revolve about the axis of the tire.

10. A vehicle wheel having a tire, in combination with an ant-skidding device comprisin a number of flexible cross members exten in across said tire at intervals around t e periphery thereof, each of said* cross members com risin a roller-having a plurality of blunt e ed circumferential pro-` jections adapted to ie gripped between the tire and the ground, each.'cross member also comprising means for allowing the'roller to rotate relatively to the tire', and supporting means for holding said cross members on the wheel, said supporting means extending around the Wheel at each side-thereof bTit free from direct attachment to the wheel.

11. A traction attachment for vehicle wheels comprising a series of rotatably mounted gripping devices arranged transversely over the surface of the wheel tire, and means for holding said gripping devices in place merely by the en agement of the traction attachment with t e tire, and permitting the gripping devices to roll along the tread surface of the tire and the traction attachment to move cireumferentially.

12. Tire armor comprising, in combination, a tread member arranged to extend across the tread surface of the tire, and holding provision to position the same on the tire while permitting theI armor to shift circumferentially about the tire, all parts of the holding, rovision being remote from the tread snr ace of the tread member, and the tread member being mounted to rotate freely with reiation to the holding provision automatically to present dierent wearing surfaces when in use and to roll along the tread surface of the tire. v

13. AnA anti-skidding device for vehicle Wheels comprising a. series of tread members extending transversely of the tire each constituted by a plnralitycf coil elements connected to retractively resist separation and ieldable to conform to a tire underl use, olding means to be located at the sides of the wheel, and connections between said holdin means and said tread members to permit imited longitudinal and radial movement of said mem rotative movement thereof. L

In 'testimony whereof, I have signed my ers and to facilitate name to this specification, inthepresence of two subscribin witnesses.

VI TOR P'. RATZBURG.

Witnesses: CLAUD Gxmvns, FRANK N. JACQUES. 

